As we move into the world of Self Service Carolina, all incoming transfer work will look differently than it did in VIP. These changes should help you make better sense of non-USC work. From now on, all incoming courses will be evaluated by the course's home department instead of the student's department.

Please keep the following definitions in mind as you look over your work:

Transferability refers to the conditions under which the University accepts credit from other post-secondary regionally accredited institutions for inclusion in the student's record. Coursework classified as remedial by the University will not be used to help a student earn admission. Courses that are occupational or technical in nature may be included in the student's record for the purpose of determining scholarship and admission eligibility, but these courses are generally not applicable toward a degree.

Equivalency entails equating transfer credit, both in hours and content, to University of South Carolina coursework.

Applicability of credit toward a degree refers to the prerogative of the academic divisions to count specific credit toward the fulfillment of a student's degree requirements. The student's college or school of enrollment is responsible for determining applicability.

Elective Credit

If a course is coming in as elective credit, you will see an equivalent of 00XT where x = a number to indicate the level. For example, if a course comes in as ANTH 003T, it counts as a 300-level Anthropology elective.

If you are earning elective credit, the title of the course will usually indicate that with the use of the term "elective" in the course title field followed by the original subject, number and title of the course that has been transferred to USC.

Interpreting Subject Codes

Most subject codes correspond to USC subjects/departments. For example, HIST = History, CHEM = Chemistry. There are three separate subject codes that are specific to electives.

UNEL (University Elective Credit): Credit that is not department specific. This is usually used for courses that do not fit within an existing USC department.

HUMA (Humanities): Credit that does not fit into a specific USC department but that is based in the Humanities.

SSCI (Social Sciences): Credit that does not fit into a specific USC department but that is based in the Social Sciences.

SCIN (Natural Sciences): Credit that does not fit into a specific USC department but that is based in the Natural Sciences.

Additionally, you might see a TRAN SFER course on your record. TRAN SFER courses are courses that transfer into the University of South Carolina but have not yet received a USC equivalency. Actual equivalencies will be assigned to the transfer course by the Office of the University Registrar as soon as the equivalency determined by the appropriate department.

Remedial, Technical and No Credit

REME = Remedial
Remedial courses are courses taken at a level below those offered at USC. Examples of these courses can include Developmental Reading or Pre-College Algebra. Remedial courses are indicated by the course number 000T and the designator "REME -" in the title. The subject codes will usually be standard USC subject codes such as ENGL or MATH.

TECH = Technical
Technical courses are courses taken at a 2-year technical school. Examples of these courses can include classes related to a trade such as welding or HVAC. Technical courses are indicated by the subject code of "TECH," the course number of 00XT, and the designator "TECH -" in the title of the course.

NACC = No Credit
No-credit courses are courses that are neither remedial nor technical, but that do not earn USC credit. You will most often see this if you took a no-credit course at your transfer institution. No-credit courses are indicated by the subject code NACC, followed by the course number 000T and the designator "No credit -" in the course title.